OMAHA, Neb. – Texas freshman first baseman Kacy Clemens showed up at the College World Series prepared to deal with the attention that comes with being Roger Clemens' son.
Before Roger Clemens became a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, he was a pitcher on the Longhorns' 1983 team that won their fourth national championship at the old Rosenblatt Stadium. Roger will be on hand to see if his son can help the Longhorns win a seventh title, and first at TD Ameritrade Park.
In Texas' media brochure, Kacy lists his father as his "childhood sports hero," and he has dogs named "Rocket," his dad's nickname, and "Cy."
"I've never been ashamed of the name on my back. I wear it loud and proud. It's another target like the one on my chest," Kacy said Friday. "That's not what it's about here. It's about Texas and winning a championship for this team. Anything else that comes on the side is a blessing or a curse, however you want to put it."
Kacy was recruited as a pitcher and first baseman after an All-America career at Memorial High School in Houston. He hasn't been used on the mound this season. He's started 58 of 60 games and is batting .220 with one home run and 18 RBIs.
Kacy said his dad has regaled him with stories of the Longhorns' 1983 season and that Roger's national championship ring "ranks right up there" with his seven Cy Youngs and two world championships.
Another member of the '83 team, pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, also has a son on the 2014 squad, pitcher Lukas Schiraldi. Calvin was the CWS Most Outstanding Player.
"Hopefully Luke and I can help this team win it," Kacy said.
As for fatherly advice Roger imparted to Kacy about the CWS, Kacy said, "He tells me to enjoy it, and when it comes to game time, get locked in with my teammates and win."
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ABOUT THOSE UPSETS: The elimination of six of the eight national seeds, plus UC Irvine's run to the CWS, illustrate the difficulty the selection committee had putting together the 64-team NCAA tournament field, chairman Dennis Farrell said. He's not complaining.
"We've had teams like Kent State and Stony Brook and Indiana make it to the College World Series, which I think is very healthy for the sport," he said. "We all want this to be a national sport, not just a sunbelt sport. The fact we had so many upsets reiterated the parity we have this year."
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SCHOLARSHIP WISH: Dave Keilitz, who's retiring as executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association, said his biggest regret in his two decades on the job was that he and others in the baseball community couldn't get the NCAA to increase the scholarship limit of 11.7.
"I always felt if we could get to 14 or 15, it would give us a chance to get some elite athletes who are now playing football," Keilitz said. "The elite go toward football because you can get a full ride. If we got to the level where we could give two or three full rides ... it would make our game even better."
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ARM INJURIES: Mississippi coach Mike Bianco says he's troubled by the number of arm injuries sustained by pitchers these days. He says the problem stems from youngsters who are overworked.
Bianco said when he played youth ball, a pitcher could work no more than six innings a week and the season lasted no more than 10 weeks.
"These kids starting at 8, 9 years old play year-round in tournaments because of the money that people make off the tournaments," he said. "Now you're allowed to pitch 12 innings in a week or nine innings (a day), and if you pitch three or less you don't need a day off. If I pitch (former Rebel) Lance Lynn three innings every single day for four days, that would be insane, but they do that to these young kids all the time, and they do it all year long."
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